‘Nightmare on Elm Street 2’ star Mark Patton, severely-ill with AIDS, begs fans to help pay medical bills
PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO: Mark Patton, best known for starring in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge', is severely ill with AIDS in a Mexican hospital and is asking his fans for help to pay his medical bills.
A fundraiser set up by Patton's manager revealed the heartbreaking news as it aimed to raise funds to transfer the actor to an American hospital for better and safer treatment. Now 63, Patton was diagnosed with HIV on his 40th birthday in 1999. He was just given a year to live, but medical advances in the 90s helped him outlive that prognosis. His boyfriend, fellow actor Timothy Patrick Murphy, died from complications related to the disease in 1998, but Patton remained in reasonably good shape, until now.
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Patton's manager Peter Valderrama noted in a GoFundMe campaign Saturday that his client had "been ill for quite some time now" and was initially thought to have side effects of Covid-19, but it became evident that it was "quite clearly an AIDS-related ailment." The fundraiser had collected more than $28,000 at the time of publication, surpassing its $18,000 goal.
According to the New York Post, Patton has been living with his husband Hector Morales Mondragon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where the pair runs an art gallery. Patton shot to prominence after starring as Jesse Walsh in the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' sequel in 1985. He's had roles in several other films, including 'Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean' alongside Cher in 1982, and 'Family Possessions' in 2016. In 2019, Patton told his life story in the documentary 'Scream, Queen! My Nightmare on Elm Street.'
Of late, however, Patton has reportedly canceled a number of scheduled appearances and "decided to release his news in the hopes that his community could help him," Valderrama wrote on his behalf. "As his fans know very well, Mark takes his events very seriously and values any opportunity to meet with them in person- especially after the last few years with covid seriously crippling those opportunities. Mark was truly looking forward to this show for quite some time but sadly his health has taken a drastic turn for the worse. He has been ill for quite some time now- originally it was thought to be aftershocks of covid and some hefty infections that could potentially be tackled with care and rest. But now it is quite clearly AIDS-related ailments that he is managing."
"Mark is currently in a Mexican hospital where they speak very little English- and they are completely overcome with covid cases there," Valderrama added. "He needs to be transported to an American hospital where he can receive more specialized care in a safer setting. For this, we humbly need to ask for help." It's worth noting that HIV-positive people can remain in good health if they take their meds. Furthermore, medication is the only way to stop HIV from advancing into full-blown AIDS, which has no cure.
"I just want to be healthy and at home with family," Patton said in his own statement. "I need to move to American Hospital in Mexico where they can give me the treatment I desperately need. The American Hospital is $300 dollars a day with nurses, doctors, and meds. The Mexican hospital are overwhelmed with Covid and I am too compromised to remain here." He added, "I have faced these medical challenges before and I know I have a lot of fight left in me- but the last few years have been crippling for me financially. I have always lived month to month and I have been struggling with medical visits since October. If anyone is able to contribute it would mean a life-saving option for me to be recovering in a place that can cater to my condition."